For All I Know
by KaliTracer
Summary: Days have past on Asgard when the King finds an archer from Midgard has come to grieve for his son. Part Two of We Might as Well be Strangers. *pre-slash*


A/Ns: So, I really didn't mean to continue with this thread, but somehow...

And yeah some headcanon: Loki's staff accidentally let a sort of two way connection between him and his followers. The others may never have realized, but Clint (being the first?) used that access to learn and understand Loki probably better than Loki knows himself.

Title comes from "We Might as Well be Strangers" by Keane. *hint which is also the title of the series which has spun off of my fic "No Remedy for Memory" READ THAT FIRST because there will be a third part which will hint to things in that happen in that one.

Please leave comments below! Thanks!

Beta'd by Viralguardian.

It's beautiful, is the first thought when Clint has when he lands on Asgard. He knew it would be, rationally, because of the way it had been described by Thor, but perhaps he hadn't really prepared himself for the actual splendor of Asgard.

Thor had told him exactly where to go, maybe not sure one-hundred percent _why_ Clint wants to go to Asgard, but hadn't pressed to make the archer spills his reasons.

The trek to river bank is long, it's farther away than Clint had thought, but he makes it there nonetheless. And the river is gorgeous too. He's not sure how long he's stood there, staring out at the water, when a voice starts up behind him.

"What are you doing here?" The voice is sharp and it startles Clint out of his thoughts. He turns, and feels himself blush when he realizes he's looking at Odin, Thor's father, or at least he hopes.

"Oh, you're Odin, right?" Clint asks, hands twisting together uncomfortably.

"I'm-" he seems to stop for moment and then nods. "Yes, I'm Odin, King of Asgard."

"I'm, uh, Clint Barton," Clint says, "a friend, er, shieldbrother? of Thor."

Odin looks him over, which is a little scary given the whole 'one-eye' thing, but Clint's used to Fury staring him down with much more anger than this.

"One of the so-called Avengers," Odin says, "Thor is not here anymo-"

"Yes, I know that..." Clint interrupts, and looks back over the water. "I didn't come here for Thor."

"Then why are you here?" Odin asks, again.

"I came to..." the archer shakes his head and gives a sad smile. "I'm not really sure why I'm here, actually." He pauses, and Odin doesn't push for more, just like Thor hadn't. Yet Clint feels compelled to say what's on his mind, even if it is to a complete stranger.

"When Loki came to Earth, he took over my mind with the...I don't know what it's called, Tony calls it the glow-stick of destiny, but I doubt that's really its name," Clint rambles, then blushes and shakes his head when he sees Odin's incredulous look.

Sighing, Clint forces himself to continue on.

"Anyway, when I was under his control, I saw...glimpses into his mind. I think it was a side-effect of the spear's mind control, and I'm not sure if Loki was even aware it was happening, but I could see bits of his life, his feelings...everything really."

Odin remains silent, and Clint glances at him, not sure what he sees in the eye staring back at him. He sighs and looks back out over the water.

"On Ear-uh, Midgard, we bury the dead. Put a large rock over their grave in places called cemeteries. Thor explained to us that you don't do that here. He told us about the burning and the send off and everything..." Clint shakes his head again, hands twisting each other.

"You came here to..._grieve_?" Odin asks, like the idea perplexes him. He moves to stand next to Clint, eye darting out onto the water then back to the archer.

"It may seem stupid to you, to mourn the loss of a man who took my will from me. I can't tell you how many times I tried to talk myself out of this. It's just...it may be hard to see, but somewhere in Loki, he was trying to be a good man. The idea got away from him, and I know there were things he did that he wanted to go differently, but there was good in him," Clint stares hard at the horizon, willing himself not to cry, but he knows there are tears in his eyes.

"You believe so, do you?" The tone of Odin's voice makes the archer turn to look at the King.

"I do, sir, but more than that, I know it." Clint doesn't hide the tear that rolls down his cheek, when he levels his gaze at Odin's eye.

The King of Asgard smiles, just briefly. His free hand reaches out and brushes the tear from Clint's cheek. He looks out across the water, before smiling sadly to the archer and turning to march off the way he came.

Unsure of the rules for the situation, Barton spends hours on the bank, letting the grief run its course. When night has finally come, he abandons his spot and returns to the Bifrost to go back to Midgard.

Sitting on his throne, Odin stared hard at something far off in the distance. He sits back on the golden chair, and tried to put the thoughts of the day from his mind. They would not go.

_"He was trying to be a good man..."_ Clint Barton, the lowly archer of Midgard had come to all this way to mourn the loss of a...a Trickster who had tried to rule his world through destructive means.

Leaning back, Loki let his Odin disguise ripple away. Anger and guilt flickers through his veins, as he scrubs a hand over his face. However, nothing would dissolve the haunted look in those steel eyes, or the way that lone tear had been shed for him. Nothing would rid him of the thoughts that constantly berated his mind with the question of _why had the one person who should hate him more than anyone else in the universe seem to...care for him?_

Even as the night dragged on toward daylight again, Loki still had no answer.


End file.
